In a dusty parking lot at Bangalore airport, a group of curious taxi drivers congregate around a van.
The vehicle is carrying spectacles. The drivers are then ushered to a makeshift eye diagnostic centre where they have their eyes tested and are offered the opportunity to buy glasses at nominal rates. The initiative has been set up by the multinational lens manufacturer Essilor in conjunction with the local eye hospital and an NGO. For Essilor, as well as being a way of helping some of the less wealthy members of India's society, it also allows the company to seed the market for future growth.
Multinationals have recognised the value of lower and middle-class consumers in India and are increasingly trying to serve those segments. With a burgeoning population of more than 1.2 billion and growing spending power in the country, the market is too big to ignore. Unilever this month raised its stake in its subsidiary, Hindustan Unilever, which has a portfolio of products including Dove and Lux soaps, to 67 per cent, for €2.45 billion (Dh11.74bn), as part of its push into India's high-growth market. Unilever this year announced that it would pay as much as US$5.4bn to raise its stake in the subsidiary to up to 75 per cent.
The company is keen to cater to the entire consumer pyramid and so makes sure it offers a variety of products at different price points. For example, in terms of laundry products, it has its Wheel brand for the mass market, Rin for the middle segment and Surf Excel for the premium end of the market.
"We are blessed to operate in a market like India," Hindustan Unilever says. "There is tremendous potential to grow in all the categories that we operate in and it is our stated strategy to straddle the consumer pyramid to address diverse consumer needs across income levels. Per capita consumption in all the categories is still very low compared to even other developing countries. We are investing in market development to grow existing categories and develop new categories."
The opportunities for growth in India are substantial. "As the world's largest democracy with a strong federal structure and vibrant markets, India has seen rapid growth in wealth since the year 2000," says Credit Suisse's global wealth report.
"Wealth per adult rose from $2,000 in 2000 to $5,300 in 2011. Given the 29 per cent rise in the adult population, aggregate wealth more than tripled during the same period."
The report highlights that much of this growth has been among the middle class and wealthy, with 95 per cent of India's population having wealth of less than $10,000.
Schneider Electric, a French energy company, has set up a philanthropic initiative in India with the cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to bring cheap and efficient energy to rural villages. It has developed a solar power lamp called In-Diya for India's poor. The product is given to the villagers for free. With its commercial products targeted at the high end of the market, the company says the bottom of the pyramid is not actually a target segment. But it does help the company's image in the country.
"Intrinsically, we do not believe in the extraction of revenue from that particular level of the market," says Mitali Sarkar, a corporate communications manager for Schneider Electric in India. "The entire approach is philanthropic."
business@thenational.ae
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 2
Rashford 28', Martial 72'
Watford 1
Doucoure 90'
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5